What do I have to do when getting EI?

While you’re getting EI, you must do all of the following:

• be ready to work and able to arrange child care when needed
• look for work and follow up on jobs that Service Canada tells you about
• send in reports every 2 weeks
• report any income that you get
• follow Service Canada’s instructions, for example, to show them a record of your job search, meet with them, or go to training programs

What’s a job search?

A job search includes:

• checking job ads like those in the Government of Canada’s Job Bank
• asking friends about work
• calling employers
• applying for work

Keep a record of your job search and follow up on any leads. Make notes about where you look and who you talk to. Keep copies of all job ads, letters, and applications.

What information do I have to report?

You must send a report to Service Canada for each week that you get benefits. In these reports, you must say if you:

• worked and, if you did, how much you earned
• received any other money
• were sick or injured
• were available for work each weekday

How do I report the information?

You can report this information online or by phone. If you cannot report in either of these ways, you can report by filling out special cards and mailing them.

Soon after you apply, you get a letter in the mail from Service Canada that says “Important Employment Insurance information for you” at the top.

This letter tells you when you must make your first report. It will also give you your access code. It has 4 numbers and is near the middle of the letter.

You need your access code to report online or by phone. The letter tells you how to use Service Canada’s reporting service.

Online

If you fill in your report online, follow the instructions carefully. After you answer each question, you must confirm your answer.

Once you finish your report, the system will confirm that your report was received. It will also tell you when to make your next report. Be sure to write down this date. You cannot make your next report before then.

Usually, you have to report every 2 weeks.

If you realize later that you made a mistake in your report, call 1-800-206-7218 and press “0”. For TTY, call 1-800-529-3742.

Call as soon as possible during business hours.

By telephone

Call the telephone reporting service at 1-800-531-7555. When you use the service, you must answer several questions.

It’s important to answer each question correctly. After you answer each question, you must confirm that your answer is right.

When you finish your report, a message tells you when to make your next report. Be sure to write down this date. You cannot make your next report before then.

Usually, you have to report every 2 weeks.

Do not hang up the phone until you’re told that your report was successful. If you hang up before that, your report will probably not go through and you will have to start again.

If you realize later that you made a mistake in your report, call 1-800-206-7218 and press “0”. For TTY, call 1-800-529-3742.

Call as soon as possible during business hours.

Earning money while getting EI

You can earn money. But half of what you earn is taken off your EI benefits.

This applies as long as you do not earn more than 90% of the “average insurable earnings” your benefit was based on. All of the money you earn above that 90% is taken off your benefits.

Average insurable earnings is the amount EI considers you were making before you lost your job. For more information, see How much will I get?

If your earnings are the same as, or more than, your average insurable earnings, you do not get any EI benefits that week.

Also, when you work a full work week, you do not get any benefits for that week. This applies no matter how little you earn.

You must report all of your earnings in your reports. If EI finds out that you are not reporting all of your earnings, the full amount you earned is taken off your benefits. You will probably get other penalties as well.

Report all your earnings

You must report all of your earnings in your reports. If EI finds out that you’re not reporting all of your earnings, the full amount you earned is taken off your benefits.

You will probably get other penalties as well. Read more in What happens if I give false information?

Do I have to take any job?

No, but you must apply for and accept any job that Service Canada thinks is suitable for you.

A job can be suitable if:

• you’re healthy enough and physically able to commute to work and do the job,
• the hours of work fit with your family duties or religious beliefs, and
• doing the work would not be against your religious or moral beliefs.

A job is not suitable if it’s available because of a strike or lockout.

If family duties affect the hours you can work, you must try to set things up so that you can take a job.

If you do not do this, Service Canada might cut off your benefits.

Looking for work

When you start your job search, you can look for a job that:

● is the type of work you usually do, and
● has similar pay and work conditions.

But if you do not find a job in what Service Canada says is a “reasonable” time, they can tell you to look for other types of jobs. This even includes jobs that pay less than you usually earn.

If I do not take a suitable job

Service Canada may cut off your benefits for 7 to 12 weeks if they decide that:

• you refused to take a job they thought was suitable, or
• you knew about a job but did not apply for it.

This means that you do not get any EI regular benefits for that period of time.

If you disagree with this, you can ask Service Canada to reconsider the decision.

This means that you’re asking them to review and change it. You must do this in writing within 30 days. For more information, see How to ask for a reconsideration?

If I take a job but get fired or quit

If you take a job while you’re getting EI and then quit without just cause, your benefits will be cut off. This applies even if the job was only part-time.

Just cause means you had to quit because you had no other reasonable choice. See Just cause for quitting.

For this reason, it can be a mistake to accept work that’s not suitable or that you cannot handle.

But if you refuse work that Service Canada thinks is suitable, you can be disqualified for 7 to 12 weeks. So it can be hard to know what’s the best thing to do.

Try to get help and advice before you decide. See Where can I get help and information?

Your EI will also be cut off if you take a job while you’re getting benefits and then get fired for misconduct.

But your EI benefits should not be cut off if:

• you lose the job for reasons that are not your fault, or
• your employer fires you because you were not able to do the job.

For more information about misconduct, see Can I get EI if I was fired?

If you’re cut off for any of these reasons, you can ask Service Canada to reconsider the decision. This means asking them to review and change it.

You must do this in writing within 30 days. See How to ask for a reconsideration?

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